Stadler wins ‘largest tender in Swiss history’
Swiss train manufacturer Stadler will supply a total of 510 Flirt trains in its home country over the next few years. The company emerged as the winner from what is being called the “largest tender in Swiss railway history”. The first order comprises 286 vehicles and is worth around 1.9 billion euros.
The Swiss Railways (SBB), together with subsidiaries Thurbo and RegionAlps, have awarded Stadler a framework contract for up to 510 new single-deck Flirt type trainsets. The first delivery includes 286 vehicles and has an order volume of about 2 billion Swiss francs.
The first trainsets are to be delivered starting in December 2025. In addition, there is an option for another 224 vehicles. According to SBB managing director Vincent Ducrot, the investment in new trains is an important signal for regional train traffic in Switzerland.
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The vehicles are entirely produced in the Swiss Bussnang with 75 percent of the components coming from Switzerland. Stadler’s Flirt is a single-level multi-level railway vehicle for local and long-distance traffic. With the framework agreement for SBB, Stadler has so far sold its bestseller more than 2,500 times in 20 countries – from the Arctic Circle to Africa. The new units for SBB and its two subsidiaries are to be licensed in Germany, Austria and France in addition to Switzerland.
Despite the corona crisis, Stadler managed to increase its net profit last year to almost 129 million euros (138.4 million Swiss francs) compared to 119 million euros (128.5 million CHF) in 2019. At 2.9 billion euros (CHF 3.08 billion), turnover was 4 percent lower than a year earlier. The new order is nevertheless a major boost for Stadler. In September, the company missed out on a 3 billion euro order in Austria due to a formal error.
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